


Not Completely Forgotten Yet

by Littlemissmimi



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (not a lot tho), Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus deserves to be LOVED AND PROTECTED, Past Drug Use, Vietnam, Vietnam War, War, Will add tags as I go along (I think), mention of past drug use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-11-13 06:47:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18026792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlemissmimi/pseuds/Littlemissmimi
Summary: What if Patch didn’t find Klaus when she searched the motel?Her call had at least reminded the others that Klaus was missing, but, well, Five was adamant about focusing on the apocalypse instead of “The Junkie” (He had a name, you know) and Luther seemed inclined to follow.Diego may not have approved of his brother’s choices, but god dammit he was still their brother and he still deserved to be saved.





	1. So it begins

Klaus saw the detective walking through the halls and tried to grab her attention, but the duct tape smothered any noise he tried to make. Panicked, Klaus hurried to think of anything else he could do. Remembering when he had smashed a snowglobe against his head just a few days ago, Klaus started banging his head against the desk. It made a loud enough noise, and pain was never really what bothered Klaus. Right when he thought it had worked and she was going to save him, one of his captors stopped him. Klaus tried to shout again, but the duct tape muffled the noise.

For half a minute it seemed like the detective was going to break in anyway, but Cha-Cha was a faster thinker than Klaus had given her credit for. “My physical therapist isn’t even covered by insurance! Why do I have to do all the heavy lifting?” It didn’t take long for Hazel to join in and make it seem like it was just the fighting of a dysfunctional couple. Klaus screamed at the duct tape, but it was still doing its job and the assassins were loud enough that he’d have to make a hell of a lot more noise if anyone was going to hear him. His scream became a choked sob as the detective walked away.

Hazel and Cha-Cha stopped the fake arguing a minute or two later, when they were sure that she was gone. “You do listen,” Hazel said to his partner, looking touched. Cha-Cha begrudgingly replied, “Of course I do. Damn budget cuts and special assignments.” That seemed to remind the two assassins of the other person in the room and they focused their attention on Klaus. Cha-Cha backhanded him across the face and leaned down so her face was directly in front of his and spoke in a low, menacing voice, “You’re not getting out of here until we have Five. No one can save you.”

When she finished her threat, Cha-Cha looked over Klaus’s shoulder and nodded. It didn’t take long to figure out what the signal meant as he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and everything went black.

 

Diego finally made it, albeit a bit late, to the motel where he was supposed to meet Patch. He asked the man at the front desk if he had seen her. He told Diego that she had come by a bit earlier and grumbled a few unflattering things about her. More than a few, actually. If Diego weren’t in such a hurry, he would have kicked the guy’s ass. As it was, he still considered it, rushing outside to look for Patch. 

And Klaus. 

That probably shouldn’t have been so much of an afterthought.

It took him a few minutes of searching, but he finally found Patch. She looked troubled. 

“Are you okay? What happened?” Diego called to the detective.

“I’m fine, but I couldn’t find your brother,” Eudora answered.  _ Right, _ Diego thought absently,  _ Klaus is in trouble. _ Eudora continued catching Diego up on what had happened, “The closest I got was some knocking in a room, but it turned out to be a couple going at it.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay. Why on Earth did you go in there alone?”

Patch narrowed her eyes at him in an annoyed expression before answering, “I thought you wanted me to do things your way. From what I’ve seen that means charging into dangerous situations without anyone who could back you up or even know where you are.” She gave him an expectant look when she finished speaking.

Diego wanted about to make some snarky comment in response, one that he would surely regret later. Luckily, before it could leave the safety of his mind, a car peeled out of the parking lot, tires screeching as it drove away.

Forgetting their disagreement for the moment, Patch and Diego looked at each other with the same question in their eyes.  _ Was Klaus in there? _

 

The pain came first. Klaus groaned, struggling to think. Everything hurt (especially his head), but being in pain was a pretty normal part of Klaus’s life. Unless he was high. However, even now he could feel the symptoms of withdrawal throughout his body. God sobriety was shit. Why would anybody want this?

Klaus managed to open his eyes only to see darkness. His breath hitched when he realized just how small a space he was in. Why was it so small? And dark? Was he in the mausoleum again? It was surely cold enough. Klaus knew it was ridiculous. He hadn’t even been near a graveyard in years. This knowledge did nothing to help him calm down. 

He could see them. The ghosts were always there, but these ones were special. These ghosts had been following him around for decades. Ever since the first time he was locked in that mausoleum.

Their screaming got louder the more he thought of the mausoleum which just reminded him more of the fucking mausoleum. If only he had his music, or his drugs, or something, anything, that could drown out the ghosts.

“No nononono. Stop. Please. Stop! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Klaus shouted. His voice came out wrong though. It was muffled and frantic. At least he had a proper gag this time. In better circumstances, Klaus would have joked about times he had wanted to wear a gag like this. This wasn’t better circumstances. Klaus screamed, at least that came through. He could hear the faint noise of a voice behind him, but without being able to see who it was, this just scared him more. It sounded familiar, but Klaus couldn’t tell who it was over the screaming, both his and the ghosts’.

Klaus felt light-headed. Probably from the screaming. His shaking was as bad as ever and the physical pain wasn’t shit compared to the rest of it. The voice behind him shouted again, louder this time. Loud enough that Klaus could hear the worry in it. Someone was worried about him. 

“Klaus, hey, calm down. You’re in the worst of it right now. It’ll get better from here.  _ Ben. _ Klaus focused on his brother’s voice, trying to ignore the voices. “It’s okay, you’re going to be okay. I’m here.” Klaus’s voice cut off into choked sobs at this. “It’s alright, let it out, we’ll get through this.” Seeming to remember something, Ben started singing (or trying to) one of the songs on Klaus’s playlist. Klaus gave a sad chuckle, remembering when he had suggested it to Ben years ago and he had sworn Klaus would never see that happen. 

Klaus focused on his brothers voice, managing to stay somewhat calm for the next few minutes.

What seemed to be an eternity later, the space Klaus was in lurched and he felt like he had stopped moving. Which was strange because he hadn’t thought he was moving.

Finally, finally there was light again. Well, not quite light, but it was open and he could breathe again. It didn’t take long before the relief was over and someone painfully wrenched him out of the small space and pushed him towards a new room. Klaus struggled as much as he could, but he was weak from the past hour (or more?) he had spent stuffed in a trunk. 

They didn’t even bother to let him rest before going at it again.. As soon as they entered the room, Hazel and Cha-Cha strapped him to a chair and tried pressing him for more information.

Not that he had any to give.

Klaus wondered quietly if he was ever going to make it out of this. It’s not like Five would ever come for him. None of them would, none of them even cared except for Ben and he just happened to be the only one who couldn’t do anything. The ghosts took this moment to start screaming at him. Again.

“SHUT UP,” he screamed. For once the spirits listened.

 

Diego ran to his car, Patch following closely behind. They had almost made it before Eudora shouted his name. Diego turned to look at her as she spoke, “This won’t work. Who knows where they are now, and at the speed they were going we’d never catch up. They planned it out too well.”

“That’s my brother in there, I can’t just abandon him,” Diego couldn’t just give up on Klaus. Not again. If he had only paid attention to his brother before none of this would have happened. Diego shoved that thought to the back of his mind. Diego ( _ and his siblings _ ) had royally fucked up, but there were more important things to focus on right now. Like fixing their mistakes.

“Of course you shouldn’t abandon your brother, but speeding blindly through the city isn’t going to help anyone. They left in a hurry, there probably wasn’t enough time for them to pack up all of their stuff. Maybe something in there will give us an idea of where to find him” Diego knew Eudora was right. She usually was. He nodded and sighed before turning to walk back to the motel with her.

The two walked through the halls, looking for anything that might be out of place for a while. Suddenly Eudora stopped, a contemplative look on her face.

Diego looked at her questioningly, “What is it?” Eudora simply put a finger up to her lips, signaling for him to be silent. After a moment she responded, “This was the room with the couple. Listen.” Diego held his head next to the door, but he didn’t hear anything on the other side. “It’s completely silent,” Diego said, confused.

“Exactly. It could be nothing, but they were going at it. I doubt they would have been done by now,” Eudora said. Looking at Diego in a way that made it clear the decision was up to him. He knew it was a long shot, but Eudora’s gut was usually right.

“There can’t be any harm in checking,” Diego answered. Eudora smiled at Diego before testing the doorknob. Luckily for them, the room was already unlocked.

There were two beds in the room, highly unusual for a couple to get. The beds were unmade and there was a wooden chair in the middle of the room with what looked like blood stains on it. Diego ground his teeth angrily, imagining the countless methods they could have used to hurt his brother. However, he had to admit, they were undoubtedly professionals. There wasn’t anything that could be luggage or a personal item in the room. He was about to give up when he glanced in the trash and noticed a receipt. Diego picked up the slip of paper and walking out while studying it. Eudora followed him out of the room. 

“Did you find anything?” Diego asked. The detective shook her head before replying, “They were more thorough than I expected. Whoever was here knew what they were doing.” “I agree. All I found was this,” Diego said, lifting the receipt to show her. “Griddy’s Donuts,” Eudora read out loud, “I think I know the place.” “Me and my siblings used to sneak out there occasionally. We stopped around when we turned 13,” Diego said. It just hadn’t been anymore fun with the glaring absence of Five (and the growing distance between the siblings).

Eudora looked like she was going to respond, but was interrupted by a yawn. She tried to stifle it, but she was obviously exhausted. “We should rest for the night,” Diego told her, “I have to check up on my other brothers and I think you could use some sleep before you go to work. There’s not much we could accomplish this late anyway..”

Patch looked reluctant, but nodded anyway (a testament to how tired she must have been). The two split up with the plan to meet the next morning at Griddy’s Donuts to continue their search. Diego drove back to the small room he called home, having to mentally prepare for dealing with Five and Luther.

 

Five had just finished telling Luther about the imminent apocalypse when Diego entered the room. “They got away,” Diego said, disappointment clear in his voice.

“They? Who’s they?” Five questioned, a reasonable question he thought. However, Diego glared at him like he had done something rude, “The people who took Klaus!” Having been asleep when they got the message from Eudora, it made complete sense that Five hadn’t known his brother was missing, but Diego didn’t seem to agree with this sentiment either.

“Are you sure he was  _ taken _ ? I mean, it’s Klaus, he might have just gone looking for drugs,” Luther said (completely unhelpfully by the way). Diego focused his glare on his bigger brother before responding, “Yes, I’m sure. We found the room they kept him in. It looked like they had been trying to get information out of him. I also saw the car they escaped in.”

Five interjected at this point, “Did you actually see Klaus though?”

Diego looked pissed at this, “Did I actually see Klaus? Do you think that if I had actually seen Klaus I would have let him get away?”

“So you don’t know for sure that it was actually him,” Five said, unconcerned over the possibility of Klaus being in actual danger. Luther backed Five up, “He’s probably just off getting high like always. He’ll come back in a few days completely unharmed.”

Diego looked at them incredulously before snapping, “That’s our brother out there. He could be in real danger. Maybe he is off getting high, but he could also be in trouble. He might need us right now, and you two don’t even care!”

The silence that followed was all that Diego needed to know he was right. They were completely willing to take the chance and play with Klaus’s life. Diego shook his head and stalked out of the room. He wasn’t sure if he was more upset because his brothers wouldn’t help or because he knew that if he were in their place, he would probably have be on their side. When had he let himself stop caring about Klaus?

Back in the room, Luther eyed door Diego had walked out of guiltily. He almost got up to help his brother, but Five spoke first, “Klaus will be fine. Besides, we have an apocalypse to stop.” Luther sighed. His brother was right, the apocalypse came first. If Klaus was still missing by then, they could all help to find him, but there were more important matters to attend to.

They went back to planning, not a single trace of guilt in Five’s eyes - even though he was the only one who knew that if Klaus was actually in the custody of temporal assassins, he wouldn’t live more than a few days even if he was lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. I plan to post again around the same time next week, but you know how it goes. I'll be as reliable as I can.


	2. You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream For Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus has a particularly bad day.

Klaus woke up to a punch in the gut, unable to breathe or even think for God knows how long. It took him a while to gather himself after that one, but his voice was still breathy when he spoke, “Well I usually prefer a ‘Good morning Klaus’, or ‘How are you doing Klaus,’ but this works too I suppose. What a way to get the adrenaline running, huh?” Klaus breathed in deeply as he spoke, earning himself another sucker punch to the gut. The assassins seemed to be getting sick of him already. When Klaus focused again, he opened his mouth to make another comment, but Cha-Cha hurriedly slapped duct tape over it.

“You won’t be needing to talk for this,” she said menacingly. Klaus tuned her out after this, knowing she was going to say something long and boring about his mortality, and how she wasn’t afraid to kill him and whatever junk she thought would scare him into telling the truth. He was still suffering from withdrawals (he knew from experience that the first week was always the worst), and just didn’t care enough to listen to something so boring. Besides Klaus already knew that he wasn’t going to make it out of this (and even if there was something important, Ben was probably listening for the both of them).

Klaus went back to considering his plan. It was probably stupid, which was why he couldn’t tell Ben about it. His brother would try and talk Klaus out of it, and he really couldn’t risk that. And, really, all Klaus was doing was his job as the distraction. That’s what he was good at. He might as well do it one last time. Hopefully he’d save one of his brothers from being stuck with these two. After all, if they were busy with him, they couldn’t exactly be out searching for Five.

Having made his decision, Klaus started mumbling against the tape to get their attention. Cha-Cha backhanded him (probably because he interrupted her monologue. Or maybe just because she was sick of him. It was anybody’s guess), but took the tape of nonetheless.

Klaus took a deep breath before speaking, “Fine,” he mumbled, trying to seem convincingly ashamed (with just a hint of terrified), “I’ll tell you everything. Just promise you’ll let me go. Promise.” Cha-Cha looked proud of herself, like whatever bullshit she had been going on about was the reason Klaus had decided to give up the family secrets.

Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus could see Ben staring at him, confused. Maybe begging for his life had been too far. After all, Ben probably knew the best out of anyone that Klaus really couldn’t give a fuck. He was also the only person who knew for sure the Klaus had no information to offer. It took his brother a minute, but Klaus could pinpoint the exact moment Ben realized Klaus’s plan. He stared at the seance with wide, scared eyes and walked out of the room.  _ That’s fine. I can do this alone. It would be better for him not to see this anyway.  _ Klaus began to brace himself for a long night.

“So it all started about 30 years ago,” Hazel hit Klaus in the face. He didn’t want any of the boy’s shenanigans. “Start sooner. This week.” Klaus pushed through the pain and spoke again, “Dear old Daddy, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, collected the seven of us,” Hazel hit Klaus again, before the boy even finished his sentence. Klaus gathered his bearings and continued the story. He could do this. He could save his brothers. He could be the distraction.

Klaus wasn’t quite sure when Ben came back into the room. He wasn’t quite sure if he wanted him to.

 

Diego made it to the donut shop a bit early. Well, maybe more that a bit. More like 2 hours. He hadn’t been able to sleep anyways, and after about an hour of trying, he decided that he might as well stake the place out. An hour and a half into his watch, the car that had to have contained Klaus parked at the shop. Diego leaned over in his seat and watched the car through his side mirror. One of the two who had attacked their house stepped out of the car. He looked disheveled: his tie mostly undone, his suit unbuttoned, even his hair was in disarray. 

A low growling came up from the back of Diego’s throat when he imagined what had kept the man up all night with his brother held captive. Diego waited until the man was safely inside the building before sneaking out of his car. He crept up to the small blue vehicle and quickly stuck a tracker under the car. All he had to do now was wait. He would find Klaus.

Diego crept back to his car and sent Eudora a quick text, updating her on the situation. It only took a few minutes before the man walked out of the building and pulled out of the parking lot. Diego waited until he was sure the other car wouldn’t see him before starting to follow. He was using the tracker, so discretion was more important that maintaining visibility. After a few a while the tracker beeped to signify that it had stopped moving. Soon after, Diego saw a small motel, similar to the one from before. He drove past (to make sure that the man wouldn’t see him leave his car and make a break for it again) before circling back to the small building. 

He turned his phone to silent and started creeping towards the motel. He snuck past the rows of doors, watching for any clues as to what room his brother was in. The first few doors had nothing. The most exciting moment was when a small child apparently “found the coolest bug guys, everyone come look at it!” Diego moved on to the next room. He listened for a minute and heard nothing but silence 

Diego was about to move on when the light above him flickered repeatedly. This caught his attention as he heard the sound of howling winds, which was especially strange considering the noise was coming from inside the room. Diego was about to chalk it all up to coincidence when the temperature suddenly dropped noticeably. Each of these things would have easily been dismissed on their own, but together was a different story altogether. It was almost like...  _ A GHOST _ . Fuck. His brother’s power was the undead. This had to be some kind of sign. Diego startled at the realization, banging his elbow against the door loudly. 

He heard footsteps coming closer to the door and hurriedly ducked behind some nearby hedges, hoping that whoever was in there didn’t perform a very accurate check of the area.   
The door creaked as it opened and Diego saw the man step out with a shorter woman. They glanced around, but didn’t look more extensively than that. The woman shut the door and began speaking, “Look, that was fucking weird and I don’t think we’re going to be getting anything out of him. Honestly, we might as well just kill him now and look for Five ourselves.”

The man nodded in thoughtfully before adding, “It would be a shame to simply put him to waste though.” The woman hummed thoughtfully. “I guess, but if we haven’t gotten anything by the end of the night I’m disposing of him. One way or another.” Without leaving time for her partner to respond, she opened the door and stalked back into the room. 

The man sighed and followed her. Diego watched them go, seeing red. No one was going to hurt his brother. Not anymore. Diego checked his phone before planning his attack. He had multiple missed calls from Eudora and a text asking him where he went. Diego sent her the address, put his phone back in his pocket, and pulled a knife out in each hand, running towards the window.

 

Ben stared at his brother. His brother knew nothing about where his siblings were, and, yet, his brother had just offered to tell his captors everything. It took Ben a minute to figure out what the plan was with this, and once he did, he found it impossible to hide what he was thinking, how worried he was. It was understandable off course, Klaus had just made his position ten times worse for a bunch of people who didn’t even notice when he disappeared. However, knowing that his fear might do more harm than good, Ben stepped outside to compose himself.

His brother was stalling. And of course, being Klaus, he had decided to stall in the way that would cause him the most possible harm. Self-sacrificing idiot. Not to mention, he was doing this for people who degraded him. People who never noticed him, who made him feel useless, or who frequently put him in harm’s way in order to avoid being in it themselves. Don’t get him wrong, Ben loved all his siblings, but the cons outweighed the pros. This wasn’t worth it. 

Hearing screams from the other room, Ben rushed back inside. The first thing he noticed was a knife Cha-Cha’s hands. Once again wishing that he had a physical form, one that could actually be of use to his brother, Ben sighed and did the best he could. He sat with Klaus, trying to comfort him as well as he could. At least his brother wouldn’t be in this alone.

The two assassins kept at it until dawn. They had shown no signs of tiring except when Hazel  started complaining about being hungry an hour ago. Hazel headed out to go get himself some food and Cha-Cha walked to the gas station across the street, looking for a bottle of water. Ben stayed with Klaus, assessing the damage and trying to relax his brother while they had a break. Of course, Klaus interrupted his imitation of a mother hen by speaking (fucking idiot), “You know, it really isn’t that bad. I’ve had worse.” 

Ben snorted. He’d been there the whole fucking time, there was no way Klaus could downplay his injuries. Especially when they were right fucking there for the whole world to see. “Of course it is dumbass. Why on Earth would you tell them you knew where to find Five?” Ben said. He tried remain calm, but seeing Klaus flinch away, Ben realized he just might have been yelling. A lot. “I just want to help. We both know I’m not going to make it out of this, I might as well be somewhat useful before I go.” Ben wasn’t used to seeing his brother so serious. Klaus was usually anything but, even when seriousness was the best possible choice. Ben matched his brother’s serious tone when he spoke, “You shouldn’t have done it.” Klaus only hummed in response, allowing Ben to resume his examination of Klaus’s injuries.

In the rest of the precious time before Hazel and Cha-Cha returned, Ben and Klaus didn’t speak. Klaus was far too tired to hold up conversation, and Ben was honestly just happy to let his brother get what rest he could. It was the least he could do. 

Ben would check outside every once and awhile, trying to convince himself it was just so he could warn his brother when the two came back, but he knew that wasn’t true. He’s needed time to compose himself; hide the worry, so that he could be strong for Klaus. When the two finally did return, he warned Klaus, letting the other brace himself for what came next. 

It was worse this time. The two assassins were clearly tiring of Klaus, and due to this fact, they were far less careful with him. Turns out there’s a lot more pain you can cause when you no longer care if the person makes it long enough to tell you anything. However, it wasn’t until they took out the blindfold that Klaus really broke, and Ben with him. The dark was already terrible enough, with only the ghosts visible. Even when he couldn’t see the real ones, the memories decided to haunt him. The memories of his childhood, of Sir Reginald Hargreeves (in all his assholery), the memories of the mausoleum. And to add people causing physical harm along with his old traumas, it was unbearable.

Ben wasn’t usually an angry person. He prided himself on that fact, but this made him see red. He couldn’t think through the buzzing of anger in his head. Ben barely noticed when the lights started to flicker. He barely noticed when the wind started howling, despite the fact that they were inside. He barely noticed when the temperature dropped. The two assassins, on the other hand, noticed almost immediately. 

They stepped away from Klaus and shared a confused look when there was a sudden knock on the door. They were more than happy to check it out, if only for a reason to leave the room. Once they left, Ben calmed down to a more functional level of anger. He tried to take the blindfold off, but his ability to affect the physical world was much less direct and much more short lived. Nevertheless, Ben kept trying, even as his brother’s captors came back in the room and Ben started seeing red again. The air got cold enough that he could see their breath right as the window shattered inwards.

 

Diego was used to crashing through windows. It was an occupational hazard, and honestly it was just a great option overall. He got to make himself look even more threatening, and he could stun the enemy at the same time, giving him the chance to assess the situation and move first. And sure, he wasn’t prepared for the room to be cold enough to see his breath, or for lights to be flickering so much that they barely counted as working, but he was prepared for an enemy, and his brother’s captors were not. Diego pushed all other thoughts to the side and threw his knives. The surprise factor would only last for so long, and Diego needed to move first if he wanted to save his brother.

Unfortunately, the two were better trained than Diego thought, and managed to avoid being fatally impaled by any of the blades. On the other hand, they weren’t well trained enough to completely dodge them. One of the blades impaled itself in the chick’s right arm, and the other landed in the thigh of the larger man. Diego only had time to throw one more knife at the lady (grazing her other arm, but not enough to do any real damage) before the two realized what was happening and began to fight back. The man ran up and tried to fight Diego head on. Never a smart choice seeing as he managed to jam a knife into the man’s approaching fist before ducking way. He used his dodge to move past the man so he was facing his back. The pain of being stabbed was likely why Diego had managed the move without being caught.

He kicked the man behind his knees and slammed the nearest object onto his head. Luckily for Diego, this happened to be a large metal bucket. The man  crumpled and held his head, groaning in pain. Diego was about to hit him again when he heard a click behind him. Turning around, Diego saw the lady was pointing a gun at his head. 

Diego froze as she spoke, “Hands up knife boy.” Slowly complying, Diego started to wiggle the knife he kept in his sleeve up to his hand. Diego noticed her aim was shaky and just a little bit limp (probably due to the stab wound she had in her arm) and watched for any other weaknesses. He finally freed his knife and was about to throw it when the man grabbed both of his hands in one  _ Fuck that was a quick recovery. _

The lady kept the gun trained on Diego as she grabbed a roped and tossed it to her partner. “Tie him up. Maybe he’ll be more useful to us than this junkie,” she said. Her partner started wrapping the rope around Diego’s wrists while responding, “Does that mean we can finally waste the freak?” The woman seemed to consider and started turning the gun towards Klaus. “No!” Diego’s voice seemed to be joined by another though he had no idea how. 

Thinking fast, Diego twisted out of the man’s grip, moving closer to the wounded hand before finally throwing the knife he had freed earlier and knocking the gun out of her hand. The man pulled Diego’s knife out of his own thigh and tried to stab Diego in the chest. While the blade missed it’s target it still cut Diego deeply in the arm. It didn’t make a difference. Diego had been injured enough times that he wasn’t about to let it get in the way of what he was doing. Diego kicked the lady in the face, pushing her back so that her head slammed against the wall and she finally passed the fuck out.

He dodged another half-hearted hit, but Diego knew that he had won, and so did the man he was fighting. He moved behind him and slammed the metal bucket against his head, causing the man to drop down to the floor with his partner.

Taking the rope they were going to use on him before, Diego tied the two up together. He made sure the roped were secure before finally walking to Klaus. He noticed that it was significantly warmer in the room than when the fight had stopped. Taking this as a good sign, Diego started to assess the damage to his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was later than I planned, but it's also like 500 words longer and has some exciting moments so I think you'll forgive me. Should Klaus go to Vietnam with or without Diego?  
> Also if anyone wants to know when I put new chapters up I post on my tumblr @onedruggieseanceboi when I update.  
> This was also my first time writing a combat scene so if it's terrible then I apologize


	3. What Happened Next, A Long Time Ago

Diego had just finished taking his brother’s blindfold off and untying him when the door slowly crept open. Diego raised a knife in preparation for another fight, but dropped his arm when he found out who it was, “Eudora. You made it.”  
“You were supposed to wait for me Diego, what the fuck?” Eudora sounded pissed. “They said they were going to kill Klaus, I couldn’t just wait around and let them!” Diego defended himself. This made Eudora pause, “Wait, really?” “Yes really!” Diego said, glad that she understood the urgency of the event.  
Of course this was when Klaus decided to interject. “I’m grateful you saved me and all, but Ben says they weren’t planning on killing me until tonight.” Diego glared at Klaus, “Really? After I just saved your life?” “Well, she thinks you should have waited for that. Of course, Ben thinks you made the right decision coming in now, but he’s dead, so his vote doesn’t count.” Klaus stuck out his tongue at a random point in the wall.  
“Wait, wait, wait. Do you think I should have waited?” Diego was confused, “And since when have you been able to see Ben?” “Since always, dumbass. It’s like my one power. None one ever seems to believe me when I bring it up though.” Klaus said, seeming kind of annoyed, Diego didn’t miss the fact that Klaus didn’t answer his first question, but decided to leave it for now. And, come to think of it, he did remember times when Klaus had brought up what Ben said, or what he wanted, and their siblings had just gotten mad at him.  
This was when, Diego realized that Klaus had yet to move out of his chair, surely it was uncomfortable for him. He wondered why this was and moved over to help his brother. As he started checking over his brother, Diego realized that the wounds were far more extensive than he thought. His brother needed actual medical attention. Diego decided that it would be best to bring him to Mom so she could treat him. “Can you stand?”  
“Of course I can stand. It wasn’t that bad” Klaus pushed himself up to his feet and managed a total of one step before his legs crumpled under him. “Fuck” Diego rushed over and caught Klaus just before he would have hit the floor. He was about to pull his brother back up when he spoke, “Wait! There’s something under the bed!” Klaus reached for it and Diego sighed, waiting to lift his brother to his feet. Klaus pulled out a black briefcase from under the bed and let Diego pull him up. Diego decided to just carry him out. He paused when he reached the door and turned to Eudora, “I trust you can take care of these two?” Diego would have rathered he dealt with them his own way, but he knew Eudora would never allow it. They were going to have to go to jail. Hopefully it would hold them.  
Patch nodded, “Go. Help your brother. I’ll keep you updated on these two.”  
Diego nodded and walked out. He shook the briefcase next to his ear as he spoke, “I bet you there’s money in here, these guys had to have a stash of cash somewhere,” Diego sighed, his brother would probably (definitely) use said money to buy drugs, “Hey maybe you should let Five take a look at that before you open it. Those guys were kind of weird, I don’t trust it.” Klaus, of course, made a face and opened it anyway. With a flash of blue light, they weren’t at the motel anymore.

Okay, so maybe, Klaus thought, I should have listened to Diego. Maybe. He still wasn’t quite sure what had happened, maybe it was good. He heard said brother mutter “I told you so Klaus.” as a group of people woke up around them. They probably would have attacked the two brothers, but sirens started to go off. Someone came up to the tent and started shouting at Klaus and Diego to get dressed.  
Klaus tried to tell them that he wasn’t part of whatever weird group they were in, but Diego was suddenly whisked away and a tall, blonde man was standing in front of him. No one seemed to care what he had to say. At least that part was normal. “They didn’t get you a uniform yet, huh? Don’t worry, you can use one of mine.” Klaus was handed a green shirt and he decided to just put it on. The man looked him over and asked, “Are you sure you don’t need to be in the infirmary? You look rough buddy.” “I’m fine,” Klaus replied, which was probably not the smartest choice. But then again, he was standing on his own again so he must be alright. This would be fine. Klaus was also handed a pair of pants, a gun, and a helmet. He put these on and followed the soldier out, still holding on to the briefcase. He wasn’t at all sure what was going on, but he figured just following along would be the best plan.  
Klaus thought he caught a glimpse of Diego, heard the shouting of his name, but he couldn’t be sure. There were so many ghosts around here. Some of them were dressed similarly to the living, and some of them were dressed completely differently. There were more of these ones, and they all seemed to have chosen someone to trail. Wherever he and his brother had ended up, there was a lot of death. They boarded a bus, and Klaus though he saw Diego up at the front again, but didn’t know if he was allowed to go up there.  
He was about to just go for it when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Klaus turned to see the soldier from before, the incredibly hot soldier from before, was talking to him, “You just get in country?” “Oh, uh,” Klaus paused for a minute before just agreeing, “Yeah.” God I’m so gay, Klaus thought with a small chuckle. “Yeah, shit’s crazy. I know.” Klaus agreed more enthusiastically this time, “Yeah!” “Don’t worry. You’ll adjust.” The man smiled at him again and held out his hand, “I’m Dave.” Klaus took the hand and replied, “Klaus.” He scooted the briefcase just a bit more under his seat. Maybe he wouldn’t be needing it so soon.  
When they made it to wherever they were going, things were crazy again. Someone directed him to a trench and told him to shoot at anyone not with them. Klaus looked to the people next to him and found was Diego on his left. From the look of it, Diego had also been given a uniform and a gun, but he actually knew what to do with his.  
“Diego!” Klaus’s voice was barely noticeable above shouts and firing guns, but Diego had always had better at hearing than most. He turned and shouted something to Klaus that he couldn’t quite make out. Diego shouted again and Klaus strained to hear. Something about the trigger. Klaus kind of just pointed his gun and pulled it. He wasn’t sure really where it had hit, but he figured it didn’t matter. He looked back at his brother to realize that Diego was reloading his gun. Copying his actions, Klaus reloaded his and shot again. He went through the motions countless times, just kept trying to hit something, until the sounds of gunfire had started to drift away. The soldiers were packed back up in the bus and headed back to the camp just as quickly as they had been sent out.  
Klaus sat by Diego this time, riding in silence as the adrenaline left him. He was exhausted and is so much pain. Klaus stood up when they arrived and passed out just as quickly. Great. Fucking great.

Dave had had a simple childhood. He’d grown up on a farm in Virginia, nothing especially exciting. His mother and father had both loved him, and his two brothers were annoying as hell sometimes, sure, but they still cared about him and he cared about them. There were always there when he needed them. He had grown up in a very Jewish household, going to synagogue every Saturday was just part of life. Dave stopped believing a few years after he turned 18. He still pretended to be religious for his family, and that was fine until about a year ago when Dave had turned thirty. When he had come out to them.  
It hadn’t gone well if that wasn’t clear. His brothers were more surprised than anything else really, but they still treated him differently. They were more cautious, less trusting. His older brother wouldn’t trust Dave alone with his kids anymore. He never really admitted it, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. Eventually, they both stopped returning his calls, and he stopped trying to make them.  
If asked, Dave would always say that he went to war in order to help his country, he wanted to protect people, he wanted to make something of his life, and these were all true. He did want these things, but they weren’t the real reason he had gone. He was running away. And it worked, mostly. His family couldn’t decline calls if he couldn’t make them, he couldn’t be supervised with the children if he wasn’t even in the same country, he couldn’t think about the once loving parents that hated him if he was at the battlefront, fighting for his life. Dave knew he was just avoiding it all, but it worked, so why not avoid it all.

Dave wasn’t sure why the memories ran through his mind when when he saw the strange, dark-haired man show up in their tent with some other man. He was kind of cute (kind of really cute) if Dave was being honest with himself. Dave hated being honest with himself. That’s what drove his family away. The man was probably straight anyway. One of the commanding officers ran to the tent, saving Dave from his thoughts, as sirens started going off and began yelling at everyone to get ready. Dave noticed how confused the (beautiful) man looked and offered him some help. He watched as another soldier whisked his companion away, probably to prepare him as well.  
Once they made it to the bus, Dave took another opportunity to talk to him. He learned that the man’s name was Klaus. Klaus had seemed confused and distracted, not a good thing when you’re headed to a battlefield, so Dave tried to help him focus and prayed to God for their safety. He hadn’t done that in a long, long time.  
Once they got off the bus, Dave lost track of Klaus. He didn’t see him again until they had made it back to camp and Klaus passed out. Dave pushed past people, trying to reach the man. When he got to the front of the crowd, he saw that Klaus had been picked up by the man he had arrived with. “Everybody back up!” shouted Klaus’s companion, “Give him some space!” Dave stepped forward to help him carry Klaus to the infirmary, but the man waved his hand away, “He’s my brother, I’ve got him.”  
Klaus’s brother picked him up and walked off the bus. Dave decided to let him go, but noticed the two were headed in the wrong direction. “Hey!” Dave shouted to them. The man turned around, looking annoyed. “The infirmary’s that way,” Dave pointed said tent as he spoke. Klaus’s brother paused and nodded before following Dave’s directions. He offered a muttered thanks when he walked past, and Dave smiled, “No problem.” He probably would have liked to follow the two and make sure they (Klaus) would be okay, but he decided that he would probably be needed around camp. There would be other chances to visit him anyway.

Diego got help finding the infirmary from some soldier and hurried to get his brother there. He’ll be okay. It’s Klaus, he’s always okay, Diego tried to reassure himself, but, well, they seemed to be in an army. And, well, army medicine was not always the best. Nothing against the doctors, but they tended to be low on resources and always seemed to be scrambling. Diego slowed down and decided to consider his options.  
Diego had a few ideas, but none that he particularly liked. He could take Klaus to a tent, and treat him on his own, but he didn’t trust his skills enough to deal with any major wounds. He could claim to be a doctor himself and tell them how to treat his brother, but they’d expect him to have actual training, and if more soldiers came in injured (which they surely would) he could very easily do more harm than good. This idea also ran the risk of Klaus being put solely under his care, which made it just as bad an option as the first.  
Diego decided that he would patch his brother up as well as he could on his own before bringing him in to see the medics. He could play it off, saying that he had treated him on the field. Diego checked to make sure no one was paying attention to the two and ducked into the nearest tent. There were ten to twenty beds, but it seemed that everyone was out and about at the moment. He didn’t know how long he had before someone else joined them and decided that he should move quickly.  
The first thing he had to do was assess Klaus’s wounds. Diego scanned his brother quickly to make sure there wasn’t anything that needed immediate attention. Finding that none of his injuries could kill him on their own lifted a huge weight off of Diego’s chest, but seeing the assortment of minor to severe injuries was worrying in itself. There wasn’t any blood bleeding through his pants or limbs twisted in worrying directions, so Diego decided that any wounds below the waist could be left to the army medics. There was a lot more blood on Klaus’s shirt, and Diego took it off to get a better view of the injuries.  
Klaus was covered in dried blood and, well, injuries that the blood must have come out of. There was also a massive bruise worryingly close to his abdomen, but seeing as his brother hadn’t vomited (and also hadn’t died in the past hour or so), Diego decided that it was probably not anything life-threatening. Diego noticed that his face was discolored too, but at least it wasn’t swollen.  
Klaus was also worryingly skinny, enough to bring up the question of whether he had been given any food at all since he had been captured, enough to bring up the question of whether he had been eating enough before then. Based on Klaus’s ribs, and the fact that Diego could clearly see them, the answer to both questions was no. There were also small scars across Klaus’s veins that Diego figured were from shooting up. Feeling slightly dizzy even at the thought of needles, Diego decided he would move on from that though and checked his brother’s breathing. It was scratchy and kind of worrying, but there was no way to tell (especially with Diego’s current resources) if that was from something the his brother’s captors had done, or if it was, yet again, drug related.  
Taking out the small medical kit he always kept on him (the vigilante job was full of… occupational hazards), Diego removed a few alcohol swabs. He also searched around for a wet cloth, but decided that the pads would have to be enough after a few minutes. Diego focused on cleaning the actual wounds first, but he used up the rest of the pads just trying to clean the old blood off of his brother. Once the wounds were clean, Diego noticed a few older scars. Diego had a lot to talk about with his brother. Luckily (or unluckily?), it seemed that they would be staying here for a while.  
Diego started looking for something to wrap the fresher injuries in, not wanting to risk infection, but nothing in the tent really looked clean. Diego kept searching. Eventually, at the very back of the room, he found a uniform that had probably just barely been issued. It seemed to be clean enough to help more than it could hurt and Diego started wrapping Klaus’s wound. Most of them were small things. A few were… not so much. Diego had to stitch those ones before he could wrap them.  
Diego finished patching up his brother just a few minutes before he heard voices approaching outside the tent. Thinking fast, he picked up Klaus and ducked under one of the walls. Tents sucked ass, but they were much easier to escape unnoticed. Diego took his brother and started walking in the direction he remembered being told the infirmary was. If all went well, no one had alerted the medics that someone was coming in earlier, and Diego wouldn’t seem suspicious to them. Diego was at the front doors when he bumped into the blonde soldier again.  
“Just arriving? I thought you headed here an hour ago.” He looked at Diego with calculating eyes, his gaze occasionally flicking to Klaus. “Got lost,” Diego answered curtly, daring the man to question his story. He looked like he was about to do just that when his eyes fixed on one of the ‘bandages’ Klaus’s arm. Something in his expression changed when he noticed more of the wounds had been wrapped and that Klaus was no longer covered in his own blood. (Diego really couldn’t believe that anyone had let him go off to fight).  
“The medics here really aren’t that bad. It’s a struggle, but they think outside the box. We’re luckier than most.” The man said in what he probably meant to be a comforting voice. It really just pissed Diego off. He didn’t need this man’s pity. “The name’s Dave, I hope your brother’s okay.” Diego narrowed his eyes, but still replied, “Diego, and he will be. I’ll make sure of it.” His voice was more hostile than Diego had reason to be, but that was really the least of his concerns. Once Klaus was healthy enough to go, they’d use the briefcase, The briefcase, shit! Where did we leave it?  
Dave seemed to notice Diego’s sudden distress and apparently took it as an invitation to talk, “Something wrong? I’m happy to help you out.” Diego brushed the offer off, “I just realized we lost something. I can find it after I drop my brother off.” Dave didn’t take the hint and spoke again, “Why don’t I look for it? I’m sure you’d rather stay with your brother.” Diego would rather stay with Klaus, but he didn’t trust this Dave. He had no reason to help the two, “And why would you do that?” A reasonable question to ask in Diego’s opinion. Dave took a little longer responding this time. He sounded a lot more serious when he did, “I have brothers too. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if it were one of them that had been hurt. Look, something must have happened, and I think it was from before our last battle. I’m not going to ask about it, but it looks like he’s going to need some help. It isn’t a sign of weakness if you need help too.” Diego paused for a minute and finally nodded. He begrudgingly described the briefcase to him. He then carried Klaus into the tent, not waiting to see if Dave left or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like how this turned out! I think sending Diego to Vietnam as well was a good choice. Also, thank you to everyone for the support, all of your comments are really nice, they make my day :)


	4. The Things We See In The Night

****

_“Nononono” It was so dark. Why was it always so dark? “Let me out! Please! Please let me out!” Somehow his screams were never louder than the ghosts’. “Please! I’ll do better, I promise! Please just let me out!” Klaus screamed as his hands searched for purchase, something to pull on, somewhere he could escape through. “Shut up shut upshutupshutup._ **_I can’t help you!_ ** _Stop yelling at me. STOP YELLING AT ME!” Klaus found a row of metal bars and started pulling on them, they must have lead somewhere. A face popped into his view and he screamed. Her face was blue, her tongue swollen. Her eyes must have been cut out, leaving blood streaming down her face. The fresh blood ran over layers and layers of the old._

_“Klausssss, help me. Help me.” Klaus stopped pulling on the bars and started trying to worm his way through them instead. His screaming mirrored the ghosts, a desperate cry for help, “Please! Someone let me out of here! Ben! Five, Vanya, anyone! Let me out!” It didn’t matter that there was no feasible way he could have gotten through the bars. It didn’t matter that the gap wasn’t even big enough to fit his head, he just had to get out, he needed to_ **_get out of here._ ** _“HELP ME! HELP ME KLAUS! WHY WON’T YOU HELP ME?!” The ghosts always got louder when they realized that Klaus wouldn’t do anything for them. It didn’t matter to them that he_ **_couldn’t_ ** _do anything for them. “I don’t know how! I don’t know how to help you! I’m sorry please I’m sorry,” Klaus sobbed._

_The ghost resorted to simply screaming at him as another ghost started begging him to help her. Klaus buried his face in his arms and tried to make his body as small as he could. The screaming was so loud. They were chanting his name now, “Klaus! Klaus! KLAUS! KLAUSKLAUSKLAUSKLAUS” Klaus was shaking violently, he just wanted it to stop, wanted the voices, the faces, the_ smells _, all of it to just GO AWAY. “Klaus! Klaus! Klaus!”_

 

“Klaus! Klaus, wake up! It’s just dream!” Klaus had started muttering and moving around a while ago, but now he was full on screaming. He was drawn in on himself like he was trying to escape the sound of his own cries. The screaming attracted more attention than the muttering had and a nurse made her way to the two boys. Diego was shaking his brother, trying to wake him up. _“Let me out, please, just let me out!”_ Klaus shouted, his voice desperate. “Klaus wake up!”

“ _Letmegoletmegoletmego,”_ The nurse made it over to the two boys and pushed Diego out of the way. He could have fought her. Diego would have fought her, but the look she gave him made it clear that he would be removed from the tent if he tried. Diego grit his teeth and let her do what she could, watching like a hawk. The nurse gently grabbed Klaus’s arm, causing him to scream again. Diego was about to jump forward and rip her away from his brother, but she seemed to anticipate this and gave him a look. She could and would still have him escorted out of here.

“Klaus,” the nurse started talking in a loud, but gentle voice, “Klaus it’s okay. You aren’t trapped anywhere.” She kept talking, but let go of his hand and gestured for Diego to join in. He stepped closer and joined in, his voice mirroring hers (if not a bit awkward), “No one’s going to hurt you Klaus. It’s going to be okay.” Klaus’s screams choked off into sobs and Diego kept talking to him soothingly. “It’s okay, everything’s okay. Nothing’s going to hurt you.”

Diego wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but when Klaus finally quieted, the nurse had moved on. Diego quieted as well and was about to speak to Klaus again when he realized that his brother was still asleep. Deciding that Klaus deserved some sleep (especially after whatever the hell that was), Diego eased his brother to a lying position, but kept hold of his hand (if only because when he pulled away Klaus looked so lost and scared, even in his sleep).

Some time later, Diego wasn’t really sure how long, Dave walked into the tent again. He was holding the briefcase and started walking towards Diego.

“How’s he doing?” Dave asked, gesturing to Klaus. “Better now.” Diego replied, not wanting to get into it. “And how are you doing?” Dave questioned, surprisingly genuine. Diego paused for a minute, “I’ll be fine as long as he is.” Dave nodded and set down the briefcase by the end of Klaus’s bed.

“You look like you could use a break. Take a shower, go for a walk, clear your mind. Maybe even get a bite to eat.” Dave noted. To be honest, that all sounded kind of nice to Diego. Kind of really nice, but he didn’t want to leave Klaus’s side. Especially not when he didn’t know if his brother would be dragged into another nightmare. “I’d rather stay here, thank you,” Diego replied shortly, but it wasn’t quite as hostile as before.

“You aren’t going to do him any good just sitting here worrying about him. I don’t know your brother, but I’m sure he’d want you to take care of yourself.” Diego considered this. He really could use something to eat, and he would appreciate a chance to think about all that had happened in the last few days. Diego was about to take Dave’s advice, but Klaus started muttering again and his attention was immediately back to his brother and the death grip he had on Diego’s hand. He shook his head, opening his mouth to decline once more, but was interrupted.

“I’ll watch over him for you. I can even send someone to find you the moment he wakes up. Diego, get some rest. You need it.” Dave was more firm this time, the suggestion more of an order. Diego was surprisingly okay with this. _Maybe he did need rest..._ “As soon as he wakes up?” Diego clarified. “Yes, I promise. Nothing will happen to him. Now go.” Dave looked at Diego expectantly. “Fine. I’ll be back in less than an hour. If anything, _anything_ , happens, come and get me.” Diego checked one more time and waited for Dave’s nod before he finally stepped away.

He reluctantly escaped Klaus’s grip on his hand, but quickly reached for it again when he saw Klaus start to curl in on himself again. Dave, however, butt in before Diego could do anything and grabbed Klaus’s hand. He rubbed his thumb over it in a calming gesture, and the seance calmed again. Diego reluctantly crept out of the tent and Dave took the seat he had been occupying before. He decided he’d take a quick shower and be back in just ten minutes.

 

Dave kept watch over Klaus as he slept. He seemed calm, peaceful. Something told Dave that this wasn’t common. Maybe it was the bags under his eyes, maybe it was the way he was curled into himself, maybe it was just intuition… or maybe it was the way that every few minutes his face would grow worried and he’d start muttering. Dave did his best to help with these, trying not to listen to what the _beautiful_ man was saying. They were likely private thoughts, and it wasn’t Dave’s place to intrude.

He still caught the the louder cries, like Klaus calling out for _numbers?_ Especially six and seven. Mixed in with these were cries for “Ben” and “Vanya.” (maybe they were his family?) Some of cries, the ones Klaus probably wanted to share the least, were more worrying. He wanted to be “let out,” to be forgiven. He would apologize and say it would never happen again, he’d promise he was better, that he would _be_ better.

After a few minutes, Dave found that what helped the best with this was for him to talk to Klaus. Calm, gentle tones worked best, and it didn’t matter much what the topic was. He squeezed the hand he was still holding and tried to think of things to tell the boy. He struggled to find anything until, finally, he brought up his family. Dave decided not to tell Klaus about the problems he was having with them, and instead shared happier memories.

He told Klaus about all the times he and his brothers had waded through the rivers in his hometown. And about how they had all gotten leeches one year and weren’t allowed to play in the rivers anymore. He told Klaus about how they didn’t listen, of course, but they made sure to be more careful in the water the next time.

He told Klaus about the time his oldest brother, John, had found a stray kitten behind their house. About how the kitten had been starving and all three of them had begged their parents to let them care for it. About how his parents had decided it could stay for just a week, and how a week had turned into years.

He told Klaus the light, easy-going stories that had happy beginnings, middles, and ends, but he also told the sleeping man stories where he had needed his brothers. He told Klaus about the time he had been ganged up on by a group of fourteen-year-olds when he was twelve, and how his brothers had come to rescue him. (He left out the part about them attacking him for his sexuality. He had also left that part out when his brothers had asked him about it after the ordeal).

He told Klaus so many stories that he lost track of the reason. It wasn’t really about preventing nightmares anymore. He just needed to tell them to someone. He needed to face the fact that this was it. That no more stories would be created. Dave would never get to tell the story of him helping his nieces and nephews learn how to ride a bike, he would never get to make that memory. This was all he had left: a few scattered memories.

After nearly half an hour of Dave talking, Klaus started to wake up. The soldier called for one of the nurses and asked her to go find Diego. He kept his promises. Dave waited for Klaus to open his eyes and fully regain his consciousness. He looked around him like he expected to see someone. Klaus’s face dropped when he evidently didn’t find who he was looking for. He finally spoke to Dave with a scratchy and tired voice, “Where… Where am I?” He started to sit up and Dave quickly offered his free arm to help him, “You’re in the infirmary. You passed out on the bus and your brother brought you here.”

Klaus nodded slowly and looked down at the hand Dave was still holding. His face colored slightly and Dave hurried to let go. (He thought he saw Klaus’s shoulders slump in disappointment, but he must have been wrong). “Is he here?” Klaus whispered hopefully as a medic started to walk over. “He’s on his way,” Dave answered and moved out of the way to let the man check Klaus over. Klaus nodded and looked around again. He seemed about to say something, but was interrupted by the medic, “Hello. Klaus, is it?”

Klaus nodded at the medic in confirmation. “Can you tell me what happened to you?” the man asked. Klaus thought for a minute before answering, “I, uh, woke up in this big tent and was brought onto some bus… I think?” Klaus chewed on his lip and looked at Dave for confirmation, waiting until he got at least a nod before continuing, “and then I went to a battlefield, I think, and got back on the bus.”

The medic nodded, “That’s right. Can you tell me how you got injured?” Klaus tensed ever so slightly. Dave was pretty sure the medic didn’t catch the motion and Klaus answered, “You know, it’s kind of fuzzy. I don’t quite remember.” The medic’s eyes narrowed and he hummed slightly. He seemed about to ask another question, but Diego finally entered the room.

Dave barely caught Klaus’s muttered, “ _That_ brother.” He sounded strangely disappointed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so maybe I did give Klaus a night terror just so I could make him and Dave hold hands, but, like, I love my gay sons okay.  
> Also I don't know how long Vietnam will last. I'm having a lot of fun writing it, but I have zero idea what's gonna happen next. I'm really just coming up with this as I go so, like, maybe it'll be good, maybe it'll be bad, who really knows at this point.


	5. Where Did You Go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so late, here you go:

The first thing Klaus noticed when he woke up was that Ben was gone. He was just  _ not there _ . For the first time in thirteen years, Klaus was completely alone. There was no one there for him. At all. There had been times throughout the years where Klaus had felt alone, times that he was sure no one cared about him, times he thought he was better off dead. However, Ben had been there through all of it. He had never gotten sick of Klaus, never stopped trying to help him get better. 

Of course he had finally gotten sick of Klaus too. It made sense, after every time Klaus had ignored his advice, of course he would be annoyed. After every time Klaus had used Ben’s voice to make a point Ben disagreed with, of course he would feel overlooked. After every time Klaus had slept on the streets, or had to dig through the trash just to eat anything that week, or gotten so high he hadn’t even recognized his brother, of course Ben had realized how much of a  _ FUCKING DISAPPOINTMENT _ Klaus was. And after every time Klaus had overdosed, every time he had stayed under the water too fucking long, every time he had been beaten half to death by another coke-head and just lied there, in the alley or side of the street or shady motel room, because he simply didn’t care anymore,  _ of course Ben had realized how hopeless he was. Of course Ben had left, why wouldn’t he? Klaus wasn’t worth staying for. He wasn’t worth Ben’s effort. Why the brother had stayed for so long was just a fucking mystery. _

The second thing he noticed was that he had no idea where he was. This was a surprisingly common occurrence for Klaus, but it was different this time. The wasn’t a random alley or a stranger’s room. It wasn’t even the hospital, but it felt similar. The dead were almost overwhelming in number, but they were calmer than Klaus could remember them ever being.  _ Of course the ghosts would be the only ones to stay _ . He hated them, every one, but at least they had some consistency. It gave him comfort, knowing that at least part of his life (even if it was the part that he hated the very fucking most) could stay the same. All of the ghosts had the same green clothing. They didn’t watch anyone in particular, they really just lingered there. They didn’t know how to move on, but they at least hadn’t yet realized that Klaus could see them. 

The third, and final, thing that Klaus noticed was the man sitting next to him. Klaus vaguely remembered him from before. He had said his name was Dave, if Klaus’s memory served (it usually didn’t). Klaus asked the man a few questions, but he was mostly preoccupied with looking for Ben.  _ Maybe he was just lost in the maze of ghosts… _

He also might have been distracted by the hand he was holding. Klaus’s face colored slightly when he realized that Dave was holding his hand. He didn’t want to let go, but Dave obviously did, and Klaus wasn’t one to make anyone do things they didn’t want to

When Dave said Klaus’s brother had brought him here, well, it was obvious which brother he had thought it was. Klaus knew this was a stupid thought, he fucking knew that Ben couldn’t bring him anywhere, but his stupid fucking brain still hoped. Besides, who else would care enough to take care of Klaus  _ (not that Klaus thought Ben cared about  _ **_him_ ** _ so much as he cared about the one bridge he had with life, the one chance he had to communicate with anyone he actually cared about.) _

When questioned about the events bringing Klaus to wherever he was, Klaus decided it would be best to leave out the part about a magic briefcase or time travelling assassins and only told them the more realistic details. The medic didn’t seem to buy the part about him not being sure how he had gotten injured, but that didn’t really matter. Diego entered the room before his answer could be questioned. And _fuck_ was it disappointing when Klaus realized Ben really had left him. Yeah, he was glad to see Diego, glad that his brother had at least cared enough to bring him here, but he still wasn’t who Klaus had _(needed)_ wanted. He just wanted someone to care about him enough to _stay._ Someone who wouldn’t get sick of him. Diego had had plenty of chances, but he always tried to dump Klaus at a hospital or rehab center. Somewhere where the seance wouldn’t be his responsibility anymore.

Diego seemed uncharacteristically worried when he walked up. He pulled the medic to the side and talked to him for a few minutes before making his way to the two men. He nodded at Dave in what seemed to be thanks before taking a seat next to Klaus’s bed. _How do they know each other?_ Klaus never asked the question, instead letting Diego speak first, “Hey, how are you feeling?” Diego strangely sounded like he genuinely cared about the answer. _“It’s about time,”_ is what Klaus thought Ben might say if he were here. Probably not.

“Klaus?” Diego leaned forward worriedly, asking, “You with me?” “Yeah, yeah, I’m good. Just tired.” Klaus answered absentmindedly with a quick smile (it was fake, but he doubted anyone could tell at this point. Most of his smiles were fake.) 

 

Diego narrowed his eyes slightly at Klaus. The Seance had been tortured, dropped in a warzone, and then had passed the fuck out. Diego had seen the damage with his own eyes. He knew that his brother was anything but “good,” but Diego decided to drop it for now. Klaus was tired, he probably needed to sleep, not to be grilled about his life. It could wait.  _ And maybe he had said that about a lot of things lately, but, well, a lot of things had happened. He’d get to it. He would. _

  
  


It had been over an hour and, despite his best efforts, Five was starting to worry. Five may be the only person in this family that knew how to prioritize, but that didn’t mean his family wasn’t somewhere on the list. He may not be able to save everyone, but there was no chance he was letting Hazel and Cha-Cha take  _ two _ of his brothers. After all, they were the reason why he had come back.

_ Or maybe it was just that Luther was really FUCKING getting on his nerves _ . Five could only listen to the whole “I’m Number One, everyone has to listen to me,” spiel for so long. Five was the oldest, smartest, and most experienced of any sibling. He had been through Hell and back. Fuck, he had thrived in Hell, become Satan’s number one. If anyone should be in charge here, it should be him, and Five only waited so long before making this abundantly clear to Luther. Clearly annoyed, at least the brother had finally  **shut up** .  _ God, hangovers are the worst,  _ Five thought to himself, still not having it in him to feel bad for belittling his brother.

At the two hour mark Five decided that it was time for him to leave Diego’s room (house?) He had things to do, apocalypses to stop. Five jumped out of the room, ignoring Luther’s surprised shouts from behind the door and walked on. Luther made it to the main room, quickly catching up, right as Five reached for the door out. However, said door and was promptly pushed aside by a 30-something year-old woman. Five was about to accost her for her rudeness, but she didn’t give him the chance. Instead she spoke, “Have you seen a man, about 6’0, dark brown hair, brown eyes, he looks about thirty and answers to Diego?”

Five stopped and looked the lady over. She seemed genuinely concerned, but he knew the Commission. This kind of ploy seemed right up their alley. Five wasn’t falling for it. Before Luther could speak and give them away, Five gave a curt reply, “You know, he really doesn’t sound familiar. My deepest apologies Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Five grabbed Luther’s hand and pulled the giant out of the building and around the corner. 

“Why didn’t you tel-”

_ “Stay here,” _ Five hissed at his brother, not bothering to let him finish his sentence. Hoping that, for once, his brother would actually listen to someone other than their father, Five jumped back into Diego’s room. He crouched next to the door with the one piece of cookware in Diego’s apartment, an old, dirty pot, waiting. The door opened and Five sprung, knocking the woman soundly in the head with his pot. She crumpled to the ground and Five dragged her limp body the rest of the way into the room before closing and locking the door. This was going to be an interesting night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is kinda short and boring. Sorry, I hit writer's block. However, I have this entire week off of school so if I don't write at least 2500 words then I give you all permission to yell at me.   
> Also I know it's unrealistic to think that Klaus would believe Ben would be randomly corporeal after at least 13 years of him as a ghost, but he was in a lot of pain, in shock, and he had woken up to a cute boy holding his hand, okay? Give him a break.  
> I also know that the two portions aren't quite connected so I'm sorry about that too. I think I'll start of the next chapter with more on Five and Luther (hate Luther, but I still have to write him as accurate as I can, and he Was in Diego's room with Five), but I am excited to see where Klaus and Diego end up. Hopefully Vanya and Allison can play a role in this later (and hopefully there will be more Ben).  
> Anyways, I know this was a shit chapter, but thank you for sticking with me. The next one will be better, I swear.   
> Finally, thank you all for your amazing comments!! I read every single one of them, they give me life and a reason to keep writing this.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. I plan to post again around the same time next week, but you know how it goes. I'll be as reliable as I can.


End file.
